By Gillian Flaccus
The Associated Press
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Marine sought in the killing of a colleague whose body was found in a ditch by hikers was arrested Wednesday in Texas after a five-day search, authorities said.
Pfc. Alvin Reed Lovely was booked into the Dallas County sheriff’s jail after being arrested at a relative’s home, said Lt. Erin Giudice, a sheriff’s spokeswoman in Orange County, where the victim’s body was found.
Lovely, 20, a Marine at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, had been a fugitive since last week, when prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for him in the death of Pfc. Stephen Serrano.
Orange County authorities arrested Lovely’s comrade Lance Cpl. Christian William Carney on a murder charge Friday. Carney pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was ordered held without bail, according to court records.
His attorney, Jennifer Keller, did not immediately return a call, and it wasn’t clear whether Lovely had an attorney.
Orange County sheriff’s officials headed to Texas on Wednesday to take Lovely back to California, Giudice said.
All three Marines were posted at Camp Pendleton and assigned to the 1st Marine Division.
A hiker found Serrano’s body - still in desert fatigues and boots - in a drainage ditch in San Clemente on May 15. Authorities said he had been shot once in the chest and was believed to have been killed in the ditch. A weapon has not been found.
Carney and Serrano had been with the Marines about one year, but Lovely disappeared several months after arriving at the base, officials have said.
Lovely and Serrano served together in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
Carney, of the New York City area, was assigned to the HQ Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He served in Iraq from March to October 2007 and was awarded a good conduct medal.
Serrano, of Sacramento, Calif., was a field radio operator who joined the Marines in March 2007. He had not served in Iraq.
Lovely also had not been deployed to Iraq. The Dallas man was listed by the Marines as being on unauthorized absence, a step before being declared a deserter.